Yahoo PPC can you make money from it?

Well I haven’t talked about Yahoo’s PPC program Yahoo search marketing for a long time. It’s not that I want to ignore it but I feel there isn’t much happening with Yahoo. We rarely recommend Yahoo Search Marketing to our client these days. It’s only because it rarely converts. Comparing 5 recent clients we did with YSM with 5 recent clients of Google Adwords almost its 0-5 in conversion. Google Adwords convert much better than YSM. Most of our clients recommend us to stop using Yahoo search marketing for their PPC campaign.
So why is this happening and can you still make money from YSM?
I really don’t know the exact reason why this is happening. I feel it might be the same type of users that are clicking from Yahoo compared to Google. Why this difference? Is it because the clicks might be fraudulent? But yahoo signed up with click fraud a click fraud prevention company and some companies have rated high their capabilities to avoid click fraud effectively. So what is causing this drop in conversion, I feel it could be that most of yahoo users are not exactly looking to buy stuff. They might just be clicking because they want to know what the product is about. Recently we got a blast from one of our client for spending 3000$ in Yahoo PPC without any reasonable conversion. We talked to Yahoo about it and they replied saying all are valid clicks and nothing can be done.
I have heard stories of people making money with YSM but personally I was rarely successful. When you use Yahoo search marketing make sure you give it a try with limited budget and if it works go ahead and spend money on it.

Yahoo PPC vs Google Adwords PPC.

I have been avoiding learning how yahoo works for some time. Today I decided to really get into it. Our agency has a Yahoo agency rep that helps us out a lot and I just spent a lot of time talking to him on the phone. Come to find out Yahoo is very different. Here are a few items I hope this turns into a big discussion.
1. Quality Score:
Google – Quality score is on an individual keyword and is figured out at time of search. You can have low and high QS keywords in the same ad group. Broad match and phrase match keywords only show the average QS. Only exact match shows a close to real QS and even then it is still an average since QS is based on things that happen at time of search.
Yahoo – Quality score is only shown at the ad group level. This means that everything in the ad group contributes to the QS. A bad QS keyword can drag down the others. They recommend that we organize ad group like in Google but then split up the ad group by traffic. This means that I get 3 times as many ad groups in Yahoo than I do Google.
2. Match Type.
Google Phrase, Broad, Eact, Negative Phrase, Negative Broad, Negative Exact. Broad is a wild card that will find all keywords with any of the keywords in your term plus synonyms, plurals, singulars and anything that could be remotely related. Phrase will take the exact match of what you put in the term and allow any other terms that have that exact phrase plus anything before or after the term. Exact is very exact nothing more nothing less. Negatives work the same way except they don’t do any guessing. If you put in a singular you have to put in the singular as well. If you put in a negative match you can’t have the exact match of the same term. Google considers a plural and singular keyword to be two different words. Negatives can be done at the Campaign and ad group level.
Yahoo – Advanced, Standard, Excluded Words. This has been very confusing to me. It seems that you have broad and really broad. Yahoo does not have an exact match. Advanced is just like Google Broad and standard is just like Google broad used to be. If you put in a negative match keyword it won’t be excluded if you have it as a standard or advanced match. If you put in a singular it will also exclude the plural. Yahoo considers plural and singular keywords to be the same keyword there is no way to separate them. Negatives can be done at the account level and ad group level.
There are many other differences like campaign settings and geo targeting and so on but these are the 2 main things that are not obvious. I’m not saying that all this is true it is just my understanding. I hope we can talk about this and maybe clear up some of this stuff.

Trouble with yahoo search marketing:

First let me say that I’ve been using Google Adwords almost exclusively since I started into the world of PPC, however I did try out the Yahoo program a year or so ago. I wasn’t impressed with the setup so I abandoned it. I decided to give it a try again and guess what…they still don’t have their shit together at Yahoo. This is what I don’t like about their program vs. Google.

1. Campaigns take FOREVER to kick in. I thought Google took a while, but it took 24 hours before I saw any of my ads appearing on the Yahoo network. This just kills you when you have a hot idea that you want to get going on, then you have to wait a day or more and your inspiration fades.

2. Editorial Reviews – If you create an ad copy that for some reason doesn’t jive with some Yahoo algorithm, your ad goes to Editorial Review, and the waiting game begins again. I’ve had half a dozen ads sitting in ER now for days…wonder if they’ll ever be reviewed. At least Google get around to them in 24 hours or so.

3. Reporting – As far as I can tell, Yahoo only updates the reporting stats once a day. How the hell can I figure out if a campaign, ad or even keyword is effective if I have to wait until the next morning to see statistics?

4. Help – Getting a response from a Yahoo rep is nearly impossible.

If anyone has any tips to get around these issues…I’d love to hear them. I’d rather pay more per click and have a reliable system that gets ads showing and working in a timely manner.

Bad conversions when PPC ads show up in Yahoo shopping search.

Unlike Google products adwords ads, yahoo shopping search seem to have people only looking around and not buying anything. We have many clients who do yahoo PPC and when we get clicks from yahoo shopping search conversion rates are below 0.15 %. For Google adwords we have conversions ranging from 0.8% from content network to 2% in search network. But yahoo conversion rates are poor especially traffic from shopping search is bad.

We tried blocking yahoo shopping search but there are no options for it. We are unable to stop ads from showing up in Yahoo shopping search if anyone has ideas on that please let us know.

Yahoo! adds video, images and custom links to search ads

With Yahoo!’s new Rich Ads in Search, they can see great new innovations. Yahoo! has been testing a new service that lets advertisers add video, images and custom search boxes to their search ads. The results are ads that can combine the relevance of search with the impact of rich media. A small group of advertisers tested it in the fourth quarter of 2008 and saw click-through rates rise by as much as 25 percent. They’ve also seen improved brand exposure and conversion rates.

What can rich ads do?
The Rich Ads in Search program is being shared with a small number of brand advertisers such as Pedigree and Esurance and agencies such as Razorfish. The program lets advertisers:

• Post images and video, which can increase the branding impact of search advertising. Pedigree has added video to its campaigns, for instance.
• Create deep links to relevant pages, which can help drive conversions directly from the Yahoo! search results page.
• Include boxes within the listing that lets users search for their desired product or a store location directly without additional navigation. Esurance’s listing lets users enter their ZIP codes from the results page for insurance quotes.
• Show their logo, which enhances user trust.

Rich Ads in Search is currently by invitation only to a small group of our brand advertisers, but we will update you as it opens up. In the meantime, start thinking of what your search ads could do for you.

How to increase Click throughs on your Ads

Main problem in PPC ad writing is there’s no enough space for you to express your ideas. Humm? For example, in adwords there are two description lines with 35-35 characters and a title with 25 characters. Shrinking our ad to this much character spaces is sometimes really difficult. Your sale process starting at your landing page. But bringing people to your landing page is done by your adcopy only. The number of visitors coming to your landing page depends on how effectively you could convey the ideas and features of your service. So utilize all the characters effectively.

Here are three ways you can increase your click-throughs – Use influential Words in Your Titles – An influential word is an emotionally thrilling word that gets the attention of visitors and makes them click because you’ve strike a trigger. Some powerful power words are: amazing, incredible, successful, vital etc.

Promise a Benefit – Tell your visitors that you are going to give some benefits like free shipping, free consultation, discount etc. But it should be genuine.

Be Specific – Be specific when telling about figures like company turnover and revenue. If you are concentrating more on these steps, your adcopies will give you more click throughs.

Concentrating on a Single PPC Provider?

It seems that 95% of PPC Advertisers concentrating on Google adwords only. What you think? Is that enough for your online marketing? How will you reach people who exclusively using other search engines like yahoo and msn? So it is better to create PPC account in other search engines also. It is not a must. And do a market research before doing so.

For some product, I have seen yahoo is working better than Google. Especially tax saving, payday and consolidation programs. Normally we are seeing minimum clicks and conversions in MSN when compared to adwords and yahoo. But remember one thing. What you are spending in MSN for that clicks and conversions are also very less when compared to the other two search engines. so try to create account in at least two search engines. But don’t go too risky.

What should you do if unexpected increase found in PPC?

A sudden increase in clicks means that either your campaign is working nicely or it could be a click fraud. What should you do if you find a click fraud?

First, try to discover why you are experiencing a spike in click. According to Yahoo Search Marketing Blog, a sudden spike in clicks may happen because of any of the following reasons:

* Changes to an ad’s ranking in search results
* Change to the match type used for your ads
* Keyword seasonality
* A new distribution partner added to the Yahoo network
* Yahoo Buzz placement
* Yahoo Front Page placement

You could see a spike in the number of clicks if there is a change in the placement. Example one of your major competitors paused his campaign and suddenly your ad got a better placement. That could increase the number of clicks that you are getting. Adjust your budget and monitor your campaign. If it’s a click fraud you can see many clicks without adequate conversions. Yahoo can help you. You can report sudden spikes and ask for an investigation. Yahoo’s Traffic Quality Center will help you. They will send you a report which can tell you why your clicks have suddenly gone up and you’ll be able to take action accordingly. Each of the search engines has a service like this. What you have to do is report it on time. Remember all sudden rises in clicks may not be frauds. Think logically. Suppose your site is down and search engines are showing your ads. What will happen??

Tips to Increase Ad Quality

It is very important to pay attention to your ad quality. Each search engine that uses a quality score and you can check that very easily. Your keyword bid is inversely proportional to your ad quality score. That means the higher your ad quality score, the lower your keyword bids will be. You can expect a better ROI and save money with higher ad quality. It is nice to see something ensuring you better click throughs. You can do three things to increase your ad quality. Applying these very simple ad campaign management tactics will improve your ad quality.

Select the right keywords – Find maximum number of keywords relevant to your product or service. Some keywords might be appropriate to your whole campaign but only be applicable for certain ads within that campaign and some others might be relevant for every ad in the campaign. Remember to avoid too generic keywords.

Stay with your budget – Never spend too much or go overboard. You can’t reach your expected ROI. You will spend more on low performing keywords also. So always stick on to your pre-decided budget; if the change is not essential.

Group highest converting keywords together in one ad group. In yesterday’s post I have explained it.

Have a look.

http://www.searchenginegenie.com/pay-per-click/2008/08/tips-to-optimize-your-ppc-campaigns.html

Why Not Your Ads Are Getting Clicked On?

You have spent very much time on keyword and market research. You have given pretty good biddings also. Still your ads are not getting clicked. You might have faced this problem. The best way to get clicked on your ads is to write ads that demand a click through. The language and content of ad copy need the prime attention. If you are sure that you are targeting the right keywords only, then go behind your adcopies. Try to write better copies. Always write more than one adcopy for each adgroup. The success of your ad is determined by quality score of your ads. Be sure you pay care to the quality score and keep checking and experimenting those ads until you get them right.

What you have to do?

* Make your ads compelling and clear
* Compare your ad variations
* Use keywords in your titles and descriptions
* Target keywords to correct landing pages
* Separate ads into ad groups
* Try to get good quality scores (you can check quality score of your ads in adwords)